Zhao Hu did not have enough manpower left in Jiangnan, so he sent three groups of people to deliver food back. However, he could not mobilize any manpower, so the managers could only think of recruiting from the local area.
Naturally, they recruit young and strong people, so the people they are looking for recently are ambitious young people over the age of sixteen and under thirty.
In addition to higher wages than the low wages in Jiangnan, there are endless opportunities in the North.
"Don't even think about it. The imperial court is in the north. Will all the benefits given by the imperial court in the future be located in the north?"
At first, the young people could not help but retort: "There is war in the north."
"That was all in the past. Now the general has recovered the lost territory and pacified the Huns. There will be no more wars in the north. Even if they are fought, we are not afraid. The Zhao family's army is here."
"That's right, we are in a desperate situation in the north now. If you go to the north now, it will be like picking up money with your eyes closed."
"Didn't you say that the North is now poor and short of food? Is it really as good as you say?"
"Food shortage is real, but poverty? Huh, don't look at it. Where do the most precious colored glazes and books in the city come from? They are all shipped from Yuzhou. Look at the people in the city who are spending money like water.
Most of the people here are gentry who migrated from the north, and there are more gentry families who stayed in the north without moving. Aren't they richer?"
The naive and naive young people believed it and couldn't help but look towards the north.
The boy from the Zhao family kept up his efforts and lowered his voice to confuse: "And do you know who our boss is?"
The young people really don't know that they collectively refer to this group of merchants who come to collect grain from the north as "from the north".
The Zhao family clerk whispered: "Our boss is the great-uncle of the general and belongs to the Zhao family!"
The young man exclaimed with admiration.
The guys from the Zhao family also became complacent and said to them: "So, there is nothing wrong with following us. If we are lucky and let the general see our abilities, we might be able to work for the general and change the family in the future.
, it’s a meteoric rise.”
The young people's eyes lit up, and their ambitions were stirred up.
So they all followed them north.
In this way, the stewards recruited a group of enthusiastic young people with small money. It was said to be small money, but compared with the low wages in Jiangnan now, it was considered high.
Due to the influx of a large number of people fleeing from the north, prices in Jiangnan have soared and labor prices have become cheaper.
The newly arrived gentry brought with them their wealth, craftsmen, slaves and tenants, and they purchased large quantities of houses, shops, and fields.
The local gentry were very wary of them, but they were still able to find various ways to buy fields, forests and Heze from poor farmers. A large number of farmers who lost their land could only work as tenants or day laborers.
They also brought a variety of tools that they had never seen before, whether weaving, building houses or farming, they were faster and more precise. Then a large number of local craftsmen lost their jobs because their skills were different from those in the north.
Therefore, the market is now filled with a large amount of idle labor, so that the labor wages are very low, but... the prices are very high.
The steward picked up these people, and after collecting ten more carts of grain, he immediately took them with him and set off back to Yuzhou.
Just when they were heading towards Yuzhou with full confidence and hope, the desolate and lifeless Youzhou also received the first batch of grain.
The arrival of this batch of grain was like oil dripping into boiling water. It boiled and Youzhou came to life!
Shi Le was disgusted, but he had to admit that the batch of grain sent by Zhao Hanzhang was very timely. In order to give the people confidence to survive, he had to publicize it in a big way and let people publicize it in Youzhou. The general sent people to send relief grain.
Come.
At this time, Youzhou had begun to turn cold. Xu Dayi pushed open the half-open wooden door with his bare feet, walked in, stepped forward and pulled the person under the ragged quilt, and said in a hoarse voice: "Get up quickly, we are going to the entrance of the village.
Received relief food."
The woman on the bed struggled to open her eyes and was speechless.
He gave her a sip of water. Seeing that her face was still gloomy, he thought for a moment, gritted his teeth and got up, went to the kitchen to get a knife, stood in front of the water tank and gestured, then cut off half of the ear.
Come down.
He took out the linen cloth and pot ashes he had prepared and wrapped the ear, then chopped up the half ear and steamed it before feeding it to her.
The person on the bed ate it in a daze, barely surviving, and then asked almost inaudibly: "What is this?"
Xu Dayi said: "I grabbed the rabbit meat from outside. Let's go. I'll carry it on your back. When I come back, people will have been cooking porridge. We can get a bowl of it later."
He put the person on his back and took two bowls from the kitchen and stuffed them into his arms.
The woman swayed and leaned on his back. After eating, her eyes gradually became clearer. Only then did she see that his head was wrapped in linen and there were faint red blood stains on his ears.
She couldn't help but raise her finger to touch it and asked, "What's going on?"
Xu Dayi tilted his head and said impatiently: "I was bitten when I was fighting for food. You don't care about that. Just save some strength and survive."
He threatened: "If you die, I will exchange you for food rations."
The woman immediately stopped talking, but she was not very scared. She thought, she was already dead. What difference would it make if she was eaten by someone or gnawed by insects?
Her two children...
When she thought of this, her heart ached, and she couldn't shed any tears. She looked ahead with a numb face.
They started to meet people on the road. Those who still had the strength would hold a bowl and run towards the big village in small steps. Those who had no strength would move one step at a time. She even saw someone fall down and fall down without the strength to stand up.
Move forward...
Xu Dayi carried the man to the big village. The first pot of porridge had been cooked. He immediately threw the woman in a corner, then went over with two bowls and lined up to make porridge.
While pouring porridge for them, Li Zheng said loudly: "You can only get one bowl per person. I have remembered it, but you can't get it twice. After everyone has eaten, they will give out food. This batch of food is a relief sent from Yuzhou."
Liang, the general is thinking of you all."
He added: "If you feel that one bowl is not enough to eat, and you have the strength, after eating, go to the village to carry people. If you carry someone who cannot walk, you can share half the bowl with him. It is best to carry it with two people. If you carry someone,
Those who have been carried to death will not be counted..."
Because of his words, Xu Dayi drank most of the two newly obtained bowls of porridge, leaving only the bottom of each bowl for the woman. After she finished drinking, he turned around to find someone, "Sansheng, why don't we get together?"
, go to Erzhu’s house and have a look. I don’t know if their children and younger siblings are still alive. You can exchange them for porridge if you bring them here.”